IT v ithem ■ grow in aim tst any ground thai is not. u 1 1. The) :ulti- . .it propagated ci- ther by nurse cut- ire set in hills, form- ed by digging holes in the s i are filled with fine m »uid, and the number of which . fromSOO to 1000, or L2O0 per aae. One, two, or three plant-; are put in hill ; but, it" hops are desi to be raised from cuttings, four or five of these, from thre inches in length, are planted and covered one inch deep with fine mould. At the end of the first year, it becomes necessary to put poles in- to the hills, round which the bines i from plants are wound : at the expiration of the second full-sized poles from 1.1 to 20 feet are set (though the hop-bines will run to the height of 50 feet), in the proportion of two poles to each hill, and a similar number of hop- plants are fastened loosely round each pole, by means of withered rushes. Hops begin to blow towards the middle of June, and about the end .of August they are general'}- fit to be gathered. The most proper time of collecting them is, when the xubs easily off the bine, when the hops have a strong scent, and the seed assumes a brownish colt The culture ofhops, though pro- fitable when it succeeds, is very precarious : as soon as the plant appears above ground, it is attacked by an insecl somewhat similar to the turnip-fly, which devours the young heads. Hop-garden tuated on chalky soils, are peculi- arly subjeft to its depredations - } II O P [471 and th ■ b which adhi res so s th • i, as to p : in from int. In the m the hops ar li ible to be blown by a species . poi- sons the leaf, i> merit ; which is particularly injuri- ous during hot, cloudy, ami m >Lst fer. This inset, how does not end mges tl th of Ijant, unless it be in a •■. . in coiw I'leiire of t] dations c >t in its r i the larvae of the ottcrmolh,or PI - '... i'or the expul- sion of these vermin, Dr. "VVit-h- erin • bop-
- be-;
ild in stony places, where the moth can- not penetrate to dep they are never ail. i the lew. There are two other disl mpers incident to hops, namely, the Fun. and tiu: Smitt, for which no e I [y has hitherto I red. Hops mav, however, I, be perfectly se- I from the fiitur itions of injects,- by putting a small q tity of brimstone in the fire, while they are drying in the kiln, by which means the vermin is not only destroyed, but the superfluous moisture is more speedily, evapo- rated, and the hops acquire a brighter colour. The hop is a most valuable plant: : in its wild state it is relished -by cows, horses, goats, sheep, and swine. When cultivated, its young tops - are eaten, early in the-*] . as substitutes for asparagus, I wholesome and aperient j sold under the name of Hop- 1 ■
